Some of my happiest summer moments are spent at Folk Festivals, particularly festivals that specialize in traditional song, music and dance. There are so many aspects of the fests that appeal - travelling away from home, camping, wandering from stage to stage sampling the music, experiencing the weather whether good or bad, enjoying ethnic foods, healthy foods, camp-stove foods, singing along, dancing along, discovering new bands, musicians and styles, and visiting with other regular “fest bums,” some of whom I know only from these gatherings.

Though most of the fests I attended in 2005 were in New England, and for most of them, I only attended one day, still, I did make it to ten fests this year! Plus, two Folk Alliance music conferences, which function as a kind of summer camp/family reunion/folk festival, but with music business workshops and discussion panels. Here are two links to pages I made to show off two of my regular festivals.

The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is held in late July on a hay farm in New York, near the MA and CT borders. It's a camping fest that features primarily singer-songwriters, but also somehow includes a giant and wildly active contra dance scene.

The Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival is held on the streets of the city of Portsmouth, NH in late September. There are concerts and sing-alongs, busking on the street and informal stages in cafés and pubs. The overall theme is “Music of the Sea,” not limited to sea chanteys.

Page created 4 Mar 2006; minor updates since then